Once Upon a Time Creators Address 'Plotty' Past, Preview a Future of Neverland Conflict, Charming Bonding, 'Heat' for Regina and More

TVLINE | Among our characters there in Neverland, what dynamics are you excited to explore? KITSIS | We’re really excited about all of it. We’re excited to see Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold, who was going off on a suicide mission in the name of doing the right thing, because he believes his son is dead. You’ve got Emma grieving Bae, though of course we know that he’s alive. You’ve got Hook, who realized that revenge is not all it was cracked up to be, so maybe he’s thinking there’s a future for him and Emma. One of the things we’ve loved most is just having the group just be together, on this trek.

TVLINE | What, do they trade zingers along the way? KITSIS | Oh yeah. And there’s the way they all react differently to things. Obviously David hates Hook. Regina hates all of them. Snow resents Regina. They all have this baggage and this history that after two years we forgot we built up, but then when you watch Season 3 you see it all come out.

TVLINE | Were you suggesting earlier that there will be time for, if not romance, romantic moments…? HOROWITZ | Romance plays a big part in this season. We certainly don’t want to undermine the intensity and the importance of the mission to rescue Henry, but we also know that the feelings between many of these characters are going to be hard to deny.KITSIS | The other thing is that because we are doing the 11/11 split of the season, we really are treating this like its own season. Neverland will be done by 11, and because you know what you’re writing towards, we’re almost treating it like one giant movie. And like any adventure movie, there’s romance, there are tings that terrifying, there are things that are heartbreaking…. That was always our goal, to have that big summer movie feel, where you can be laughing and then frightened all in the same hour.HOROWITZ | The best kind of roller coaster is the one that goes through all of that stuff.

TVLINE | You told me over the summer, “There is a special someone out there for Regina.” What is she like when crushing on someone — or being crushed on, however it is this scenario shakes out? Or is this not about tepid “crushing” but co-viewing-friendly heat? HOROWITZ | It’s about destiny and fate. — and with Regina, you can certainly also expect plenty of heat.

TVLINE | After the Season 2 finale, you assured me there was a plan for Belle and the others back in Storybrooke. What shape has that plan taken? HOROWITZ | That is an excellent question. Belle’s role in this first half of the season becomes clear very early on, within the first couple episodes — and in a way we think is not expected. How Belle fits into all of this is something we’re really excited to reveal to the audience.

TVLINE | Because Emile de Ravin is still a series regular, right? HOROWITZ | She is still a series regular, and she is still very much involved in the story.

TVLINE | What can you say about Neal’s story over in Fairytale Land? Is that where your extended need for a Robin Hood (now played by Sean Maguire) comes in? KITSIS | If you were guessing, that might be a good guess….HOROWITZ | We pick up Neal right where we left him in the finale, which is with Aurora, Mulan and Philip, and he’s got a big problem, which is he is as far away from his family as he’s ever been. How is he going to get back? He doesn’t know what’s happened. Last thing he knows, Tamara was shooting him in a boiler room!KITSIS | It was a cannery, to be fair.

TVLINE | What backstory gaps will you be filling in via flashbacks? KITSIS | The second episode is a Snow/Charming episode, with the Evil Queen — we’re going to be filling in some time from [Snow’s] wake-up to when they met her on the battlefield. How did the queen react to that wake-up? And who told her?HOROWITZ | Episode 3 is a Tinker Bell origin story….KITSIS | We’re going to tell a Rumple story, and we’re going to find out how Hook became a pirate. And Episode 6 is called “Ariel” (guest-starring JoAnna Garcia Swisher as The Little Mermaid).

TVLINE | And what can you reveal about Giancarlo Esposito’s return? KITSIS | We always want him back, and NBC was kind enough to lend him to us. I would say, “If the queen is going to find out that a sleeping curse was broken, who better to deliver the news?”

I think Belle needs to shine on her own. I dont exactly ship Rumbelle… but i do get why that works, coz the story and narrative/scenes have told me that.

I am glad we getting Hook and his backstory on becoming a pirate and hopefully more… we’re in Neverland so him being associated to Neverland and Pan in the movies/books so i hope to see more of Hook. I also feel like he was a Lost Boy.

I am intrigued to see Ariel… and her backstory with Eric.

Cant wait to see meet Regina’s love interest…

This is what i loved about Hook last year as he is my fave that he realised and is self aware that revenge and feel still empty is not all that and he let it go finally when he turned out around and came back to be part of something and to Emma. It was a lead up to that moment, Though yes anyone would love to punch Rumpel at times, atleast we know now his focus is not Rumpel and it derailed when he saw Rumpel moved on and with love in his life.

Very much interested in Emma and Hook development because of what we saw last season and the immediate connectedness on the beanstalk when they both find out little things about each other and more. Hook is opening his heart. Emma deserves a fighter and never gives up on her, chooses her, comes back to her, puts her first.

Ignore all the times Hook betrayed her, physically assaulted her and her friends, that just before he “came back for her” he left her and an entire town to die. Gimme a break. I am sick of people turning Hook into a hero (or Regina or Rumple) until they have actually proven that their good deeds are more than merely cleaning up the messes they started or were party to. Stop reading your fanon (immediate connectedness? I wouldn’t take a vague chat about love and loss that deep when Emma ditched him) into the show and then gushing about it.

Hook is no hero. Can he become one? I would like him to redeem himself (simply because he sucks 7 ways from Sunday as a villain, getting his butt kicked all the time by little girls). But giving him a free pass just because he’s eye candy is bad form. And your implied vilifying of Neal is lame and a complete misreading of the character as explained by A&E just to satisfy your head canon.

Emma does deserve a fighter who chooses her and puts her first. At present, no one has stepped up to that plate, least of all Hook who has to do a lot more than show up to late to prevent what he helped cause and give Emma a sword and some rum. For one thing, he needs to show that he’s gotten over his suicidal tendency… along with Snow who keeps trying to sacrifice herself because of her dead mommy issues. What is up with THAT?

If Hook does put the moves on Emma, I can’t wait to see how Neal takes that. Seriously, the dude banged his mom and then 5 minutes after Bae kicks it, he’s trying to shag his baby momma while his quasi-step-grandson is being held hostage by Evil Pan? Talk about bad form and violating the Bro Code!

I know the writers want to drum up ratings by teasing the most vocal part of the fanbase, but given how NONE of the romantic teases in the past have come to fruition, I wouldn’t get too attached to the idea. After all, it’s a well-known TV trope that once romances are consummated in a committed happily-ever-after way, it totally ruins the show. I don’t think A&E want to do that for OUAT or Emma until the end of the series (particularly since she has so many other more pressing issues to become well-adjusted), so Hook will probably be one more guy who falls victim to bad karma that is having the hots for Emma Swan. I feel a bit bad for him. Just a little. Getting his hopes up like that.

I’m going to try not to get my hopes up in general for season 3 after the disappointment of season 2. It’s good to know the creators want to try to do better, but it doesn’t sound like they fully appreciate how badly they dropped the ball on the character front. Plus, I imagine there will be lots more CGI this season. Ugh.

I agree with almost all of this, but especially that last bit about the CGI. I hope they can manage something this year that’s an improvement on early 2000s video games. The jungle won’t be very sexy if it looks like Gilligan and the Skipper should be showing up any moment.

You really are off your head… i dont understand why one has to bash anothers post… just write your own if your looking forward to the show and why and if not. By the way it seems your not so what say anything at all lol

And give the Hook some credit for coming back at the time – he made a choice, and is going Neverland

Totally agree with all you’ve said especially that Emma deserves a fighter like Hook who isn’t ‘afraid’ to fight for the woman he loves. I’m thrilled that Adam said it would be more character driven than plot driven, I really hated the plot driven aspect of season two.
Hook and Emma interaction = always passionate.

She has tried to kill them all. I could list all of them but that takes a lot of time and space, so I’ll stick to the last time she tried – the “fail safe.” That was meant to destroy all of Storybrooke and kill everyone in it. She created it. She retrieved it and would have used it if Tamara and Greg hadn’t captured her.

“Feelings between MANY of these characters.” Well, I know Hook and Emma is one couple. Robin Hood and Regina perhaps is another one but he’s in the Enchanted Forest. Unless Regina’s new love is Tinkerbell. Neal and Mulan look cute in the spoiler photos, maybe there will be something there while he finds a way to go home?

These are great spoilers! Happy about Rumbelle! Happy about Captain Swan! Excited to see Neverland!

Love all the pair ups they force on this show. Neal and Mulan, one I haven’t heard often, but would def find entertaining. I’m just waiting for them to introduce Mulans love interest from the films. Shane I think?

Why does everyone have to be paired off? Why can’t a character get some development without forcing romance? The writers and the fan obsession with shipping drives me insane! Give me great character development before shoving all this romance down our throats.

Regina came off flip-floppy mostly in the episodes after Archie’s ‘death’. Up until then it was well-written and made sense. I don’t think anyone expected Regina NOT to fall off the wagon at least once because otherwise it would have been just boring and unrealistic too. That in itself wasn’t the problem. Using her mother to make her give up on trying to better was technically a good idea because their relationship is so messed up and Cora has such a hold over Regina. But it’s still the Frankenstein episode and the two scenes Cora and Regina had in that episode and the complete lack of follow-up to that in episode 13 (Cora was not in that one at all – maybe B. Hershey wasn’t available?) that just felt… off and it was hard to shake that feeling until like the final two episodes of the season.

But the same is actually true for Cora’s story in the second half of season 2, too. There was a lot of potential left unexplored there and her death then just felt rushed.

I’m curious how Regina is going to develop as a character this season. This whole idea of self-discovery, facing your past and fears that is promoted with the Neverland story sounds good and could be an important step for her. She’s a very layered character and although I wasn’t always 100% with the writing for her last season her journey doesn’t end there and as long as they don’t make her go back to being the Evil Queen in present day, but keep her layered and complex I’m happy.

Question is why the hell does Pan want Henry centuries ago… weirdly when Bae was a little kid

I am Team Charming Clan – so i am excited to see family moments and bonding between them

Team Hook/Emma – I guess that says it all. I am excited and anxious to see what the build up is for them knowing that they understand each other and see past each other’s walls. They are in a timeless land literally – and romance in that. Timeless Love (woah ;) )

I am one of those people that also thinks Hook was a lost boy and then he became a pirate – look forward to his backstory

Great OUAT scoop as always Matt, so thanks (especially on the Hook and Emma front) ! Really looking forward to this season and the dynamics between the crew of the Jolly, holy awkward family vacation. Am I the only one wondering if Pan has some family ties with Rumple and that, combined with the facts that Henry is the ultimate believer and his mother is the embodiment of True Love (I mean some of that magic must have been passed down) is the reason that Pan wants Rumps?

I like Regina, but the things she has done… is something that needs to be hold accountable its not like she had to do it to gain something, its coz she wanted to do it. But i so hope we see Regina well the old spark of Regina when she was young comes back, but i know and i would assume everyone knows that Evil Queen will always be there… i think she needs someone who accepts her as both… so yeah looking forward to that. And more Henry-Regina scenes – i do like them but her warped way of wanting Henry and killing everyone wasnt right.

Charmings and Snowing <3 . I want to see Emma be both her parents.. she has so much of Charming in her.

I like the idea of Peter Pan being dark… and flipped it around so he is bad and Hook isnt as such if you get what i mean.

I want Adam and Eddy, explain why in Season 2, blue ray DVD (for sale in all countries who watch OUAT) about Family Tree, say Hook and Milah married. What makes Hook be Bae stepfather and also be Henry’s stepgrandfather . Because if it is an error/mistake in DVD, it is very serious. cause they are cheating the fans who bought the DVD
Then Emma does not have a glimmer of hope that Bae could have been saved or have survived is bizarre. For all the people, even desperate hope is the last to die. Even more ridiculous is Adam and Eddy say that Once Upon a Time relates to HOPE or is about HOPE. Something that Emma does not seem to have…lol

I will make an effort only to see Ginnifer Goodwin, Robert Calyle and Michael Raymond-James (my favorite actors, full of talent). But I wonder if hold until the end… because the story itself no longer of interest or maturity

Mistakes like that are made all the time. Remember when ABC released a promo video last season that claimed that Maleficent is Regina’s sister? Yeah. ;) It shouldn’t happen of course. But there’s no point in clinging to things like that. They’re mistakes and they have happened in the past and will probably happen again whenever someone who’s not writing for the show has a hand in putting things like that together.
I agree about Neal, though. It seemed pretty convenient to me too how quick they were all to believe (Rumple too!) that Neal is dead. Yeah Tamara shot him, but he wasn’t dead or comatose when he fell through the portal and you’d think they’d have at least a tiny glimmer of hope that he would land somewhere he could find help or someone would find him.

Not trying to start an argument at all but the dvd seemed to be trying to make things as mixed up as possible and it even said that Katherine was Henry’s stepmom too …etc thanks to the curse…also in ‘ASOTM’ Hook tells Bae all about his father killing Milah and how they were in love and wanted to get Bae and be a family …I think if they had been married that he wouldn’t have hesitated to tell Bae that and they would have already ‘been’ family …either way it doesn’t matter to me…at the end of the day I want Emma to be happy…and I suppose since you ship her with Neal you’re upset not just that she doesn’t have hope…but that like her parents she doesn’t sense Neal is okay out there? I mean Emma is the embodiment of true love…you’d expect her true love to be just as epic as her parents…I mean as much as I love the dynamic between Hook and Emma, spoilers have already said that Emma has no hope because she was raised without it….she’s been abandoned by everyone in her life (good reasons or not) One thing I don’t understand is that if Emma isn’t one of your favorites how you can ship her with anyone?

Rumple also believed that Belle was dead when she wasn’t. Are they not true love? Charming can afford to believe; things have a way of working out for him. Emma and Rumple have seen what they love crumble to dust so many times–so, no, they didn’t believe in miracles. And as for “epic”–I don’t ship Swanfire, but I’m not sure what more you can ask for than a love that reached across space and time to begin with. That love survived eleven years apart. And now Neal is literally trying to move universes to get back to his famiy. Good grief, Odysseus and Penelope had it easy in comparison to these two.

Rumple is not the embodiment of True Love. Emma is. And did their love survive? I’m not so sure it did. I think Emma is in love with what it felt like to be loved. Probably the only time in her life until Henry came along, where she felt like she belonged. Because Emma by rights should not have spent the last 11 years pining over some guy that she thought was responsible for sending her to jail and didn’t love her. Emma by rights should not just be happy to go back to a man that told her “If I had known who you were, I wouldn’t have come near you” or “You thought you had a thing with lies. I never bought it” A guy that seemed to be happy, that she was jealous. IMO it just shows you how screwed up emotionally Emma is that she tolerated that. And after Neal returned she seemed to revert back into that 17 year old girl again. She certainly wasn’t the sassy, tough Emma from the beginning of the season.

Charming is not the embodiment of true love either. Rumple is only the most powerful sorcerer in at least two worlds; he believed the worst had happened, according to the ep’s writer, because that’s the way he’s used to his life going. Emma’s the same. As for whether Emma and Neal still love each other, well, the writers have been saying so all summer, and you seem to take their word as gospel when it comes to Hook and Emma “understanding” each other, so how is that in question? In the two minutes we saw of Emma in the second half of the season, she was plenty tough and sassy, as well as being vulnerable, just as she was in the first half (in her old nursery with Snow) and for that matter during all of S1. Emma Swan’s personality does not depend on the man she’s with, or not with, for Pete’s sake.

The funny thing is, I don’t like Neal or the idea of Emma and him getting back together either. But the OUAT fandom often makes me defend him because even though he did treat her very poorly and has some major growing up to do the shipper war thing between his fans and those who like Hook is not always fair.
Comments from the writers and actors are deliberately ignored, Hook’s character and the supposed “unique” (I really don’t think it is) connection between him and Emma is often very much idealized by E/H shippers while Neal is given absolutey no chance at all and definitely not the same chance to grow as a character over time that fans always claim we should give Hook.
(Although I have no doubts that the same is true the other way around too and some Neal fans treat Hook the same way. But the Hook fans are often the “louder” ones in fandom.)

I know! The problem is that the CS boilerplate about Neal/SF is usually such a strrrreeeetttttttttttch of interpretation or outright inaccurate based on what we’ve seen onscreen that I feel I have to defend the guy. And it does seem to me that Swanfire has the “epic” “endgame” writing. It always surprises me to see that people think CS would be “epic” based on…dunno, beats me? “He will always fight for her”? (Based on what evidence to date?) Fight who?

Someone asked Adam about it on twitter and he seemed surprised about the whole Hook and Milah being married thing. So you would have to assume they weren’t. And Colin also said Hook and Milah were not married.

Personally, I’m just super excited for the Charming Family moments. Particularly the Snow/Emma scenes, because I love those. They need to stop calling her Mary Margaret too, I feel like the real Snow wouldn’t appreciate being associated with her qualities. (Wouldn’t it serve as a reminder that she gave up her child?)

ummm.. //She is still a series regular, and she is still very much involved in the story.// anhdbgshjfggk! do they watch their own show? belle was barely in s2 and wasn’t involved in the main story AT ALL. so she STILL is exactly like she was in s2? A FURNITURE? that’s why they don’t promote nor her nor rumbelle? great I’m done.

I’m really annoyed with the whole “They may tolerate her, but they’ll never forgive her” crap. Regina did a lot of crap stuff to these people. She fricking ENSLAVED them so they could be as miserable as she was. It’s going to take more than bringing lasagna to a dinner that you were surprise invited to to in order to start working on forgiveness. And the heroes aren’t wrong if they don’t want to forgive her either. She hasn’t done a single thing worth forgiving. Everything she’s done is either guilt driven by Henry or cleaning up her own mess. You don’t get points for dismantling the bomb you set once you get trapped in there too.

Couldn’t agree more. As much as they want to take it back and make Regina good, she’s the freaking Evil Queen. Did no one else pay attention to the episode where she had her guards murder and ENTIRE village just because they didn’t rat out Snow? C’mon now. You can’t come back from mass murder.

I agree. Redemption has to be earned, and one has to WANT to earn it. I love Regina’s character, but I don’ t see her trying to better herself, and nor do I feel the Charmings have to forgive her for anything because of it.

Thing with Regina is she has not come to the point where she believes or even understands that she is in the wrong because she feels like she is a victim and feels well they all got what is coming to them.

This is why she didnt even try tounderstand what Hook said to her, who was thinking out aloud that Revenge is not the answer, however much you want it and you get – you are still empty and thats why we dont have ppl who care for her and love in our lives… This scene basically told us that Hook has deep thoughts and came to a realization about his revenge because he is self aware of himself and who he has become for his revenge (its not someone he likes, but for revenge he had to do things to get closer to it but then again he hasnt slaughtered millions just wanted one man) and also someone who isnt tied and wants magic and power. Regina couldnt care less about what he said or even try to see the pov of it…. all she wanted was to get what she came for, destory everyone, take Henry and live happy after… she really didnt care.

Such a difference.

I do hope she comes to some realization, maybe someone making her realize it – a new love, who well accepts her as Regina and Evil Queen as well.

Charming family dynamic is another thing i am excited about. More family feels. And Hook/Emma dynamic also to see how they build that on

The reason (or at least part of it) why their reactions were different is based on how different their situations are, though. Hook literally has no one and had nothing other than his revenge. He has no family in Storybrooke that we know of and if he deals with the Charmings or Rumple now it’s because he chooses to. Regina, on the other hand, has a son whom she has raised for all of his life. Someone she’s constantly afraid to loose and now also has to share with every single other major fairytale character on that show other than Hook. And all of those people also have the advantage of being related to Henry by blood while she’s the only who’s not. That’s a lot of stuff to mess with your head. Until Hook is a at least slightly similar messed up situation with Rumple (or someone else he’s not especially fond of from his past) and someone he loves, I think it’s hard to compare.

If Regina had treated Henry better, he wouldn’t have gone looking for his birth mother. Instead, she lied to him about meetings and left him alone while she went on on a booty call (to her slave) and she tried to make him think he was crazy when he found out the truth about the fairy tale book.

Regina was the one who screwed everything up wrt her relationship with Henry, including hurting Owen so that he tried to get revenge by taking Henry.

Hook, Regina and Rumple have all done back things but the difference is that Hook has developed an awareness of the ramifications of his actions whereas Regina still has a clue and continues to make the same mistakes over and over. Rumple is delightfully unrepentant.

@Kath: And where exactly do you think I said that Regina did not make mistakes? Of course she did. That wasn’t my point, though. Hook has done exactly two good things so far: He said that he feels revenge doesn’t lead him anywhere and he changed his mind and came back (although technically too late since everyone would have been dead if Regina and Emma hadn’t stopped the diamond) after he stole the bean and took off, leaving everyone to die in the season finale. Looking at Rumple and Regina, I could come up with at the very least 2-4 scenes for each of them that are very, very similar in nature.
To stay with Regina: She has realized before (especially when talking to or about Henry) that what she’s done was wrong and she needs to change her ways. But realizing that and saying you want to change is not the same as actually going through with and sticking with it for good. Rumple has experienced it, we’ve seen it with Regina, and I have absolutely zero doubt that we’ll see it with Hook too.
In fact the writers confirmed that people shouldn’t think just because he’s said he wants to start anew and has tried to clean up some of his own mess in the season finale he’s suddenly a changed man in an interview with TVGuide that was published yesterday. Change is hard and it’s especially hard for characters who have their past following them around in the form of other characters on the show every step of the way.

Great interview, I’m excited for this season and I think I’ll enjoy it a lot more than last year.Especially if there really are significant Charming family moments. Also, I always appreciate how you guys focus more on character stuff in these interviews as opposed to other media sites who are all “WHO WILL EMMA CHOOSE!!!” Because that’s the only thing Emma should be thinking about. Can’t wait for Sunday!

Personally I don’t think Emma’s all that, but my God is Colin O’Donaghue attractive. I wish they’d just stick to her and Neal (which is endgame anyway) and give Hook someone really special of his own.
It’s also a shame about Tamara. I’d hoped for a great black character that could really be a part of the show, but it wasn’t to be I guess. I’m still in mourning about them squandering Ruby/Meghan Ory.

So I guess I’m just looking forward to Hook’s and Regina’s journeys this season. I hope they’re good.

i thought Emma would end up with Neal, but then we met him and I’ve been hoping she gives him his walking papers. Not only did he encourage her life of crime, he promised he would love her and be there for her, and then he dumps her because after 200 years he still has Daddy issues. And he dumps her in jail where she is pregnant and alone. And when he meets up with her again, having moved on to be engaged to Tamara, and finds out about Henry and what a hard time she’s had, there is no word of apology or remorse until the last minute because the writers need something to justify her ‘I love you’.

I will be disappointed if Emma ends up with Neal because she deserves so much better.

Since we’ve met Robin for a total of about three minutes, all of which were dedicated to saving his wife (of six hundred years, lol) and unborn child, I think it’s too soon to say whether he could be good for Regina. :-)

Besides, it’s the ship that convenitently arose to not make Swan Queen and Captain Swan possible. Which are two ships I prefer more that Emma and Neal. I want to see where Captain Swan goes now but if they don’t end up together, I still can’t like Neal for Emma. I’d rather she end up alone. Same for Hook.

Regina seems to be getting a love interest so I know she won’t end up alone. Will have to see if Robin Hood is great for her.

Since Hook and Regina have had actual conversations (at least one of them deeper than anything that’s been between Hook and Emma, or Emma and Regina for that matter), and demonstrated onscreen chemistry, I don’t think it’s a ship of convenience the way, say, Neal/Mulan or Neal/Regina is.

I hate that they’re trying to put Regina with anyone period. She’s a great character but they need to focus on her and only her development. So tired of the whole”everyone needs a true love!” Angle. No, they don’t.

Is Regina’s problem not that she does not know who she really is? Really wants to be? That she needs to discover it first before she can embrace it? I still hope she &Robin Hood will have a story together.

Season 1 was only a few months I think and who knows with season 2. But yeah, I would think she should be 29/turning 29 fairly soon. Especially since Henry apparently turned 11 at some point last season.

Adam has actually said on Twitter that it’s been at least a year, even though it doesn’t seem that way on the show. Especially in season two, the story seems to be pretty continuous for any large amount of time to have passed. I kind of wanted them to show Emma have another birthday again.

I see those two still aren’t admitting how they effed up the latter part of Season 2. Oh well, what’s done is done, I suppose, I only hoped they learned their lesson and have a better grip on their characters. I’m excited for seeing Emma hoist her sword and go after Henry! I love both Emma/Neal AND Emma/Hook, so however they play it, as long as the relationships are done well, I’m happy as long as Emma is! I’m also excited for Nealfire and Hook scenes this season! The Bad/Hook scenes were my favorite parts of the finale, and its clear Michael and Colin adore each other, so their scene s will be phenomenal. I’m excited!

I still wonder how much Colin breaking his leg messed up some of the stuff they were going to do in the second half of last season. That had to have changed some things. At any rate it sounds like season three is going to be pretty awesome and I’m glad they realized we want more character development this year. Bring on the Charming family bonding, Nealfire’s journey back to his family, Ariel and Tinkerbell’s intros, and some dastardly Peter Pan/Neverland adventures! I’m way more than ready for the season premiere this weekend! =)

My wife and I aren’t that excited for the new season. While the costume team for the show gets our top marks, the writing has left a lot to be desired. Their use if magic is inconsistent and used when the plot suits it. Last season we were hoping for an all out war between those who wanted to destroy magic and the people of storybook. However, it turned into a sad let down. It has just had a drag on feel to it for us. In the finale, rumple could have used magic to resolve a lot but didn’t – then he leaves Belle behind ? After the loss if his son, you’d think he would learn not to get seperated if they start having some consistency and improve the writing, we’ ll probably watch a couple episodes.

Looking forward to more “Bandit Snow”, Emma’s reaction to her mom in that incarnation is quite amusing as well. I expect she’ll have some surprises in store for Pan or anyone else who makes the mistake of only seeing Mary Margaret.

Season 2 wasnt bad… the first half was excellent, Hook coming in and his set up to the crocodile and why he became Hook, and i did like Emma/Snow in the Enchanted Forest because Emma got to see with her own eyes her nursery and yes her parents did give her up for a good reason… she understood more. Such a fantastic moment between Snow and Emma there was. Also Emma and Hook meeting and the whole beanstalk thing… and seeing that connection to her centric episode etc. I am all for Emma & Hook bonding/bantering/fighting whatever is coming between them… love their stares they last a moment then they should ;)

I wonder if Henry is Rumpel’s undoing or is Pan his undoing, but whatever it is – Henry is special. I find it very weird that Pan has a pic of Henry when Bae was a kid… its like Pan seem to have pre planned Henry and who his parents will be.

I want to see more Snowing as well, Charming family moments etc. Hook’s backstory.

It is nice that they have a rationale for why Regina’s character behaved the way she did, but the fact they are having to explain it now means either they didn’t write her character well, or it is a rationalization after the fact.

I think the problem is that they have fallen in love with Regina and can’t bear to see her be the Evil Queen. So they’ve retconned her to be a poor victim. It’s never her fault — her teenage love was killed by her mother, her husband didn’t really love her, nobody understands her — she can murder a whole village out of spite or try to destroy all of Storybrook and kill everyone Henry loves but it’s just because she’s looking for love. Poor, poor Regina.

(I really think their passion for Regina and need to whitewash her hurts the show.0

Daniel wasn’t just some teenage love. He and Regina were fairytale true love. Losing that in a world where you allegedly only got this one is a big deal.
It doesn’t justify anything. But: In my experience, when viewers downplay even such details when talking about characters they don’t like it’s obvious they’re not even attempting to be objective.

If we didn’t see how Emma felt about her parents, or how they reacted to her, it was because season 2 was all about Regina and Cora, Regina and Hook, Regina and Henry, Regina and Snow, Regina and Rumple, Regina and Owen, with some Bae/Neal and Lacey thrown in there. You are so right, Matt, it was all about the plot and not about character development.

If they wanted me to care about Neal, they shouldn’t have made him such a douche to Emma, both when she was 17 and also when they met up again. Bae, I like, Neal can stay in Neverland.

Oh come on. ABC’s character and episode questioning is available online and done several times a season. Emma was lowrated in Season 1 and on pretty much every single “Worst character/worst actor” list after Season 1, including big name websites like TWOP. Regina was consistently popular. It’s pretty obvious the writers of the show basically just cater to whatever is popular, we’ve seen the trainwreck that was Emilie de Ravin being added as a ‘regular’ because of the popularity of Rumbelle.

SO THRILLED ONCE IS COMING BACK! Especially looking forward to the Emma/Hook interaction. Would love to see them get together. They deserve fighters who want to be together! I definitely miss Snow/Charming too! Can’t wait for the show to return!

I always love TVLine’s Once scoops the most. Y’all seem to really be genuine fans of the show while not being afraid to ask A&E the tough questions. Hearing that they’re trying to make the third season better gives me a lot of hope. Thanks again!

I think Henry was pre planned too. Which means that Emma and Neal meeting wasn’t destiny or fate. Neal kind of hinted to it in 2×14 when he said “There are no coincidences. Everything that happens, happens by design. And there is nothing we can do about it. Forces greater than us conspire to make it happen”